Complete guide to Bloom's Analyze level (Level 4). 40+ question stems by subject, action verbs, common mistakes, and how to write items that require breaking apart and finding patterns. Free K-12 teacher resource.
Analyze is Level 4 of Bloom's Taxonomy (revised) — the point at which students stop using knowledge and start taking it apart. An Analyze question asks the student to break material into its parts, examine how the parts relate, and figure out what's implied but not stated.
Analyze is where classroom questioning gets rich, because there's no single correct answer — students defend their thinking with evidence. It's also where teacher-made assessments most underuse Bloom's: writing an Analyze item takes 30 seconds longer than writing a Remember item, but the diagnostic value is 10× higher. This guide gives you 40+ Analyze-level question stems by subject, plus the "compare vs. contrast vs. relate" rule that determines whether an item is truly Analyze.
What "Analyze" Means in Bloom's Taxonomy
Analyze is defined as breaking material into constituent parts and detecting how the parts relate to one another and to the overall structure or purpose. Anderson & Krathwohl (2001) identified three sub-processes: differentiating (distinguishing relevant from irrelevant information), organizing (identifying how elements fit together), and attributing (determining the point of view, bias, values, or intent behind the material).
An Analyze item requires the student to identify a pattern, relationship, or bias that wasn't explicitly taught. If the answer could be pulled directly from notes ("The cell has three parts: A, B, C"), the item is Remember. If the student must determine which parts matter for a specific purpose, or how two parts affect each other, it's Analyze.
Action Verbs at the Analyze Level
Analyze — "Analyze the author's use of imagery in the third stanza."
Compare — "Compare the two economic policies and identify their key differences in intent."
Contrast — "Contrast the leadership styles of the two generals."
Examine — "Examine the data and identify any outliers."
Differentiate — "Differentiate between correlation and causation in this study."
Categorize — "Categorize these historical documents by their political stance."
Distinguish — "Distinguish between fact and opinion in this article."
Investigate — "Investigate why the reaction rate slowed after minute 3."
Deconstruct — "Deconstruct the argument into its main claims and supporting evidence."
Attribute — "Attribute the point of view in this cartoon to a specific political era."
Organize — "Organize the events into a cause-and-effect chain."
Diagram — "Diagram the relationships between characters in the play."
Infer — "Infer why the population declined during this period."
Relate — "Relate the character's decision to a theme from another book."
40+ Analyze-Level Question Stems by Subject
These stems require students to break something apart — pull out relationships, patterns, biases, or implications that aren't stated on the surface.
Science (K-12)
"Analyze the data — what is the relationship between temperature and reaction rate?"
"Compare the anatomy of a bird's wing and a bat's wing. What does this suggest about their evolutionary history?"
"Examine the experimental setup and identify a source of error that would skew the results."
"Distinguish between the physical and chemical changes in the demonstration."
"Categorize these ecosystems by the primary limiting factor."
"Investigate why plant A grew twice as much as plant B despite identical conditions."
"Diagram the energy flow in this food web and identify the trophic level of each organism."
"Infer the identity of the unknown gas from the properties observed."
Math (K-12)
"Analyze the graph — during which interval was the rate of change greatest?"
"Compare two solution methods for the same problem. Which is more efficient and why?"
"Examine the pattern and predict the 100th term. Justify your reasoning."
"Distinguish between the mean and median for this data set. What does the difference suggest about the shape of the distribution?"
"Categorize these functions as linear, exponential, or quadratic based on their behavior."
"Investigate whether the given points lie on the same line. Show your reasoning."
"Deconstruct this word problem — what information is given, what is asked, and what is extraneous?"
"Relate the concept of slope to a real-world rate you've seen this week."
ELA (K-12)
"Analyze the author's tone in the second paragraph. What specific words create that tone?"
"Compare how the two authors treat the theme of friendship."
"Examine the argument — identify one logical fallacy and explain it."
"Distinguish between the narrator's point of view and the author's point of view."
"Categorize the characters by whether they change over the course of the novel (dynamic) or stay the same (static)."
"Investigate why the author chose to end the chapter with a question."
"Deconstruct the argument in the editorial into its claim, evidence, and counterclaim."
"Attribute the political bias in the article. What specific word choices reveal it?"
Social Studies (K-12)
"Analyze the causes of the French Revolution and rank them by impact. Justify your ranking."
"Compare the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution — what problems did the Constitution solve?"
"Examine the primary source and identify the author's bias."
"Distinguish between correlation and causation in the historical relationship between industrialization and life expectancy."
"Categorize these Supreme Court cases by which constitutional principle they most rely on."
"Investigate why voter turnout in this election was so different from the previous one."
"Diagram the balance of powers and identify one point of tension between branches."
"Attribute the point of view expressed in the political cartoon. What is the artist critiquing?"
SEL / Universal
"Analyze a recent conflict you observed — what were the underlying causes?"
"Compare two different responses to the same stressful situation. Which is more effective?"
"Examine your work habits this week. What is one pattern you notice?"
"Distinguish between a fixed-mindset statement and a growth-mindset statement in the examples given."
Where Analyze Fits in a Complete Assessment
Common Mistakes When Writing Analyze-Level Questions
Compare/contrast items that are actually Understand. If the similarities and differences were listed in the textbook, students recall them. Real Analyze requires the student to identify why the differences matter or what the pattern reveals.
Providing the analysis in the stem. "The author uses metaphor to critique war — analyze how" hands the student the analysis. Rewrite: "How does the author use figurative language in the third stanza, and what does it reveal about her view of war?"
No evidence expectation. Analyze items score much better when the rubric requires at least two pieces of evidence — students must actually engage the source material, not opine.
Confusing Analyze with Evaluate. Analyze asks what's the relationship; Evaluate asks is it justified. "Compare the two policies" is Analyze. "Which policy is more just?" is Evaluate.
Too broad. "Analyze the Civil War" is a semester's work. Scope every Analyze item to one relationship or pattern — "Analyze the relationship between cotton production and slavery in the antebellum South."
Generate Analyze-Level Questions Instantly
AssessmentWiz's Test Generator lets you set a DOK 3+ distribution target — the AI builds analyze-level items with sourced evidence prompts, rubrics that require multiple pieces of textual support, and a mix of comparison, causation, and inference stems.
Analyze is Level 4 of the revised Bloom's Taxonomy. Students break material into parts and figure out how the parts relate to each other and to the whole. Three sub-processes: differentiating (relevant vs. irrelevant), organizing (identifying structure), and attributing (identifying bias, values, or intent).
What are examples of Analyze questions?
"Analyze the author's tone in the second paragraph — what specific words create it?" "Compare the two economic policies and identify their key differences in intent." "Examine the data and identify the source of error." "Distinguish between correlation and causation in this study." Answers require sourcing evidence from the material.
What verbs are used at the Analyze level?
Analyze, compare, contrast, examine, differentiate, categorize, distinguish, investigate, deconstruct, attribute, organize, diagram, infer, relate. If the verb is *judge*, *critique*, or *defend*, the item is Evaluate — one level higher.
How is Analyze different from Evaluate?
Analyze asks *what is the relationship or structure* — students identify patterns, biases, or connections. Evaluate asks *is this justified* — students make a judgment against criteria. "Compare the two policies" is Analyze; "Which policy is more just, and why?" is Evaluate.
How much of my test should be Analyze-level?
Analyze should be roughly 15% of exit tickets, 15% of quizzes, 25% of unit tests, and 30% of performance tasks. It's the heart of the second half of any rigorous assessment.
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